The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports again postponed a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers (see 2110280031), the two ports announced Jan. 3. The ports originally planned to begin imposing the fee Nov. 15, but have postponed it each week since. The latest extension delays the effective date until Jan. 10, when the situation will be reassessed.
India and Australia are on track to soon finish negotiating a free trade deal, the India Brand Equity Foundation said Dec. 31. IBEF, a government export promotion agency, said the deal is expected to be completed by the end of this year and will cover products, services, investment, origin rules, customs facilitation and other “legal and institutional problems.”
The EU is soliciting feedback on an upcoming revision to its food and beverage labeling requirements, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service said Dec. 23, which could affect U.S. imports. The European Commission is specifically seeking comments on proposed changes to “front-of-pack nutrition labeling, nutrient profiling criteria to restrict claims, origin labeling, date marking, and alcoholic beverages labeling,” USDA said. Earlier this year, European packaging industry groups asked the EC to create harmonized labeling requirements (see 2108180055). The comment period closes March 7.
The Federal Maritime Commission issued three new policy statements this week to provide the shipping industry more guidance on its complaint process and clarify how it will address cases of carrier retaliation. The shipper-friendly policy statements, originally recommended by Commissioner Rebecca Dye in July (see 2107290021), describe how the FMC defines who can allege complaints, how the commission approaches reparations for attorney fees and a broad outline of who can bring forward a retaliation complaint.
Singapore Customs released two sets of guidance documents for traders looking to claim preferential tariff benefits for imports and exports under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that will take effect on Jan. 1. The RCEP trade agreement was signed by Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Preferential treatment for Singapore-originating goods begins on different dates, depending on the destination country involved. The guidance from Singapore Customs details procedures for claiming preferential tariff treatment from RCEP countries and documentation procedures. The latter step involves submitting Proof of Origin documentation.
New processing fees will apply to ATA Carnets beginning Feb. 1, according to the U.S. Council for International Business. The new structure will increase processing fees for all carnets and also will impose higher processing charges for continuation sheets, additional sets and the post issue of original carnets. Fees will remain the same for certain replacement carnets.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach again postponed a new surcharge meant to incentivize the movement of dwelling containers, the two ports announced Dec. 27. The ports originally planned to begin imposing the fee Nov. 15, but have postponed it several times (see 2111030027 and 2110280031). The latest extension delays the effective date until Jan 3.
Rockley Photonics, a California photonics-based health monitoring and communications solutions company, won’t follow through with a sale to Hengtong, a Chinese power and fiber optic cable manufacturer, following Hengtong's addition to the U.S. Entity List this month. Rockley suggested the sale, which it described as a “data-communications-related technical sale,” could be subject to the Export Administration Regulations and require a Bureau of Industry and Security license.
The Census Bureau Dec. 20 emailed tips on how to address the most frequent messages generated this month in the Automated Export System. Response code 111 is a fatal error involving the U.S. state of origin code for Puerto Rico. Census said the state of origin code must be “PR” for shipments exported from Puerto Rico to the U.S. The filer should verify the state of origin code, the country of ultimate destination code, correct the shipment and resubmit.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 21 removed one person listed under two entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List. The agency deleted the entry for Rodrick Grech, also known as Roderick Grech, a Malta national who was originally sanctioned in 2018 for ties to illegal fuel smuggling between Libya and Europe. OFAC didn’t release more information.